if somebody knows how to get xorg or the framebuffer to work with a resolution of 1600x1200. please let me know. xorg does not work at all and the framebuffer shows only noise and flicker.
i have no problem at 1280x1024.

Interesting. Any stuttering in the sound, weird tics/squeals or short system freezes?

chip->model = PMAC_SNAPPER (=default): no sound at all
chip->model = PMAC_SCREAMER: sound works, but laggy and freezes system for short periods (2 sec freezes)
chip->model = PMAC_AWACS: sound works, but jittery until I read this. But I've had some weird compiler errors while playing music. And some funny tics in the music, so I'd say AWACS is not the magic bullet.
Haven't tried commenting out the line entirely yet._________________Please add [solved] to the initial post's subject line if you feel your problem is resolved. Help answer the unanswered

Very choppy sound, but sound at least
at least we have something to tinker with now

actually it sounds like audio is played ontop of something that loops and causes an opveral choppy appearance
you cant notice it as much on loud parts as mich and it would go under as tiny tics, on quieter passages it is easier to recognize as an underlying endless loop

no false alarm, whatever caused it to play fine is not related to that .asoundrc, but switching from alsa output to oss output plugin in mplayer changes things, sounds almost fine, just some slight metallic sound on certain frequencies, , since this is only alsa's oss, keeps me wondering, at least no choppy loop under sound anymore

Configure xmms
#/usr/bin/xmms
Open the preferences dialog (ctrl+p)
The ALSA output plugin should be selected already
Click on the "Configure" button
Click on the tab "Advanced settings"
Change the value for "Period time (ms)" from 50 to 100
Click "Ok" to save this setting
Click "Ok" to close the preferences dialog

Step 9: play music:
Open a music file with xmms and play it._________________Please add [solved] to the initial post's subject line if you feel your problem is resolved. Help answer the unanswered

I do have alsa in my use flags, but I don't have alsa-utils installed. Sounds just seems to work at a nice volume.
I don't use gnome, so I don't know if that could be a cause of your sound problems. You could try emerging a command line music player and test from the command line._________________Please add [solved] to the initial post's subject line if you feel your problem is resolved. Help answer the unanswered

Well, you've reached the bottom of my knowledge.
Maybe morphic can help you..._________________Please add [solved] to the initial post's subject line if you feel your problem is resolved. Help answer the unanswered

Same permissions too?
And if you start a music player as root? Still no sound?_________________Please add [solved] to the initial post's subject line if you feel your problem is resolved. Help answer the unanswered

The problem is not due to permissions, since it doesn't work with root too.

If it can help, I get this error when I configure xmms according to your explanations:

** WARNING **: alsa_setup_mixer(): Failed to find mixer element: PCM

Yeah, I get that error too, but I get sound regardless.
Have you emerge alsa-utils? Try alsamixer to check the settings, perhaps your sound is merely muted._________________Please add [solved] to the initial post's subject line if you feel your problem is resolved. Help answer the unanswered

I just got my sound going.
The last problem was it only works with external speakers, when I run MacOS I hear sound from the box if nothing is plugged in to the socket, but the output from xmms is only via the socket.

Today, I connected external speakers to my Mac Mini to watch a DVD on MacOSX. When I came back to Gentoo, I suddenly realized that I could hear the sound. YES, the sound works! But it works only with external speakers and not with the internal speaker of the Mac Mini. Is it the same for you?